Understanding the Financial Crisis

[ATeam]

I recently read about GARVEE bonds in the October 1-14, 2008 edition fo The Trucker (a newspaper distributed free at truck stops. Online: TheTrucker.com). GARVEE bonds are used to fund highway construction projects in many states.

They were issued by states with the idea that federal highway trust funds would always be there to cover the debt. They were pledged against future anticipated federal transportation grants; thus their official name: Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicle.

Overshadowed by the $700 bailout story was news of the bankruptcy of the federal highway trust fund. With high fuel prices prompting people to drive less, fuel tax revenue that funds the highway trust fund is down. The trust fund ran out of money. Congress came to the rescue with an emergency $8 billion bailout.

That is a short term fix but the fuel-tax revenue and unfunded GARVEE bonds problems remain. Federal money was anticipated by the states that issued these bonds but never promised. If the money does not come, the states are on the hook to make them good with money that is not now budgeted to do so.

Then comes the $700 billion bailout, money committed in anticipation of future tax revenues and on the dubious hope that the bad debt the government will buy will somehow become good debt in the future. Up to $700 billion in deficit spending reduces the likelihood that the highway trust fund will be bailed out if it runs out of money again.

The same day the $700 billion bailout bill became law, California's governor announced that state may need a $7 billion loan because it cannot meet its short term cash needs.

While both bailouts were in play, news that Jefferson County, Alabama, is near bankruptcy has risen. It seems people there got caught up in some of the same financial exotica that prompted the $700 bailout, but it is unlikely that any of that $700 million will go to Jefferson County.

And of course, there is the recession itself; something nearly everyone agrees that we are now in or will soon start. Reduced business activity and declining property values reduce tax revenues to local, state, and federal agencies; increasing the likelihood of municipal bond defaults, agency cuts and government entity bankruptcies.

In this environment, would you say more money or less money will be committed to highway projects and bridge repair (remember "structurally deficient?)? Do you think your taxes will to up or down in the years ahead? Will business conditions for expediters improve or decline? Will more people or less be entering the expediting business and competing with you to haul freight? Will more people or less be leaving the expediting business because of their finances and business practices? Will it be easier to get a truck loan or more difficult? Will fuel prices go up or down? What about truck prices, tire prices and shop labor rates? Will they go up or down?

It's enough to make one's stomach knot up and head spin.

Newspapers and magazines are now writing -- with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight -- about how we got into this mess. I recommend two sources below with an invitation to read them with an open mind.

Frequently here in the Open Forum, people rise to fix blame. It's the Democrats' fault for their free spending ways! It's the Republicans' fault for their lax regulations! It's the media's fault for not telling the truth! It's the peoples' fault for not being more involved! It's the career politicians' fault for serving themselves and their contributors first! It's your neighbors' fault for buying houses they could not afford! It's greedy mortgage brokers' fault for making loans they should not have made! It's banks' and investment houses' fault for leveraging bad debts on bad debts.

While running what you read through a political filter and blaming others provides some comfort, it can also blind you to things that would otherwise be seen. Thus my invitation to read these reports with an open mind. Gather the facts first -- all of them. Then pass judgment if you wish. With the reports now being written, fact gathering is made easier.

I suggest that running an expediting business is not about being on the winning team or on the correct side of a political issue. It's about understanding what is going on out there so you can make good business decisions. There is plenty of blame to go around but knowing who to blame does not make the pot holes any easier on your tires or the bridges any more safe.

In more ways than one, we are in for rough roads ahead. Understanding, not who to blame, but how we got into the mess we are in, will be helpful in making the business decisions all of us expediters will be making in the weeks, months and years ahead.

Recommended reading:

Bloomberg Special Report: How We Got Here

"The credit crunch hitting financial markets and institutions didn't begin overnight. Bloomberg News presents a package of definitive stories, beginning in May 2007, on the unfolding crisis as subprime mortgages infected the world's banking system."

New York Times Series: The Reckoning

"Articles in this series are exploring the causes of the financial crisis."

 

[Turtle]

"It's enough to make one's stomach knot up and head spin."

Well, duh. It's obvious that any scintilla of negative financial news has the ability to shake you up real good. I've never seen anyone get so worked up over and worry so much about stuff they have no control over. You've been talking doom and gloom, sky is falling, impending recession ever since I've been on this site. Considering that we are always, always, always either in an up or down and times of growth and times of recession flow in cycles, you're eventually gonna be right, and you'll be able to proudly state, "See? I told you so!". Good for you. Nine months ago you suggested we were mired in the mist of a severe recession, then like a week later the numbers came out that showed two consecutive growth quarters. Later, a third growth month. Whoops.

A recession is gonna happen. It always does. Then a growth period. It always does. Why get all worked up over it, especially since there's nothing you can do about it? Instead of getting your stomach all worked up in knots and having IBS and not being able to sleep, just deal with it on a daily basis.

You keep saying the sky is falling, yet you continue to do OK. Well, there ya go. Run with that. You'll sleep better, I'm sure.

As for municipalities going broke, good for them. They should have been more fiscally responsible in the first place, not gotten so big in the first place, not overpaid themselves int he first place, not wasted so much money on social programs that help out the few instead of the many. They will learn to use things like tolls and fuel taxes to build and repair infrastructure instead of using it to finance silly stuff like an entire payrolled bureaucracy to cover the cost of providing wheel chair ramps in people's homes to where the ramps end up costing taxpayers about $120,000 each, instead of a handful of neighbors spending $300 a Lowes and a a couple of days work to install it. $1.2 million is the budget for that department in my little town, and they average 10 ramps a year. There ya go. Governments will be forced to scale back, whittle down, be responsible. Just like the rest of us.

"Understanding, not who to blame, but how we got into the mess we are in, will be helpful in making the business decisions all of us expediters will be making in the weeks, months and years ahead."

No it won't. How we got into it is irrelevant. The only business decisions we have to make as expediters is on a load-by-load basis, and does our revenue make us enough money to remain in the business. That's it. And it's the same exact decisions we'd be making if times were the best ever.

But if you want to know how we got here (courtesy of Moot, I might add), here is the ultimate example of a social program helping out the few at the expense of the many (Sept 30, 1999):
Fannie Mae Eases Credit To Aid Mortgage Lending - New York Times

 

[chefdennis]

Not to worry! The hyway / bridges fix is a very simple one and you will see more of it. The staes will be leasing ALL of their toll roads and interstate hyways to foreign companies as the state of Indiana has done, along with one of their airport,(midway I think) and PA has done and Ohio is taking bids on!!

Don't worry about it, as we move to a socialist nation, we will be selling off more and more infrastructures just to keep some money in the government. Hell some cities are leasing off their water treatment and sewage plants!!

No problem, the govenment has it all covered! The Bast*rds!!

 

[piper1]

There is nothing wrong with leasing out a toll road, we did it up here!!

You can cruise in complete comfort at speeds during rush hour of almost 40 miles an hour on a highway with exits not near anything useful or important.

AND...You get to do all this for a measly 47 cents per mile!!

Are you worried your trip will be too short on the highway to give the Spanish company the money they deserve?

NO PROBLEM! You will be assessed a minimum charge of $11.00, plus, if you don't have one of the fancy transponders that are not compatible with any other system in North America, you will be charged a $50.00 video charge!

All the while, if you somehow forget to pay your bill, the government that sold the highway to the Spaniards, will not allow you to renew your truck's plates!!! Are you from out of town? No worries, they have a nice collections department that if all their harassing phone calls don't do the trick, the cops will do the work the next time you return!! So call your travel agent (dispatch) and be sure to book a flight on Ontario's beautiful 407, Cintra Concesiones de Infraestructuras de Transporte, Macquarie Infrastructure Group and SNC-Lavalin will eagerly await your arrival!!

SEE.....You all have nothing to worry about!!!

 

[Turtle]

Uh, oh! A thread that has quickly gone off topic. And one of Phil's, no less. You guys are in truuuubble now.

 

[arrbsthw]

There is nothing wrong with leasing out a toll road, we did it up here!!

You can cruise in complete comfort at speeds during rush hour of almost 40 miles an hour on a highway with exits not near anything useful or important.

AND...You get to do all this for a measly 47 cents per mile!!

Are you worried your trip will be too short on the highway to give the Spanish company the money they deserve?

NO PROBLEM! You will be assessed a minimum charge of $11.00, plus, if you don't have one of the fancy transponders that are not compatible with any other system in North America, you will be charged a $50.00 video charge!

All the while, if you somehow forget to pay your bill, the government that sold the highway to the Spaniards, will not allow you to renew your truck's plates!!! Are you from out of town? No worries, they have a nice collections department that if all their harassing phone calls don't do the trick, the cops will do the work the next time you return!! So call your travel agent (dispatch) and be sure to book a flight on Ontario's beautiful 407, Cintra Concesiones de Infraestructuras de Transporte, Macquarie Infrastructure Group and SNC-Lavalin will eagerly await your arrival!!

SEE.....You all have nothing to worry about!!!

Sounds like a good reason NOT to go to Canada.

 

[cheri1122]

Considering how often the "experts" on financial affairs are dead wrong, it would seem that any effort to plan one's actions according to their prognostications is guaranteed to cause a spinning head & upset stomach.

 

[davekc]

It's amazing how those essays change after 12 months.

 

[are12]

I have to agree with Turtle.

I am not one to worry about things I cannot change - jeez, I'd be sick all the time!

 

[ATeam]

You've been talking doom and gloom, sky is falling, impending recession ever since I've been on this site.

A fact check is in order. Your profile says you have been on this site since April, 2006. I first started talking about a recession on August 16, 2007. See: A Question For Expediting Veterans About Recession

Considering that we are always, always, always either in an up or down and times of growth and times of recession flow in cycles, you're eventually gonna be right, and you'll be able to proudly state, "See? I told you so!". Good for you.

I said the same thing in the post above, that recessions are part of the business cycle. But I have not been talking only about a recession so I can be right when one comes around.

My profile shows a join date of May, 2003. As far as I can recollect, I have not talked about a recession before August, 2007. Indeed, if you search the phrase "rose colored glasses" you will find several people talking about my posts that are not just positive, but too positive for their liking.

Nine months ago you suggested we were mired in the mist of a severe recession, then like a week later the numbers came out that showed two consecutive growth quarters. Later, a third growth month. Whoops.

This has been discussed in a different thread. I stand by my words. See: this post and this post.

How we got into it is irrelevant. The only business decisions we have to make as expediters is on a load-by-load basis, and does our revenue make us enough money to remain in the business. That's it. And it's the same exact decisions we'd be making if times were the best ever.

There are other decisions; like whether or not to buy a truck, new or used, how to spec it, etc. Financing decisions are made. Carrier choice decisions are made. The list goes on.

General economic conditions affect these decisions people make and the actions they take. For example, if interest rates are high, a truck may not be affordable. If credit is tight, a truck may not be obtainable without a very large down payment. If truck sales are slow, a truck may be easier to obtain.

Had today's news been the news when Diane and I entered the expediting industry, we would not have entered it. We would have kept the jobs we had and waited for conditions to improve. On the other hand, if general economic conditions were such that we lost our other jobs, we might have jumped right in, whether we were ready or not (and probably be crushed if we jumped in unprepared).

But if you want to know how we got here (courtesy of Moot, I might add), here is the ultimate example of a social program helping out the few at the expense of the many (Sept 30, 1999):
Fannie Mae Eases Credit To Aid Mortgage Lending - New York Times

Very true. This piece is also recommended reading for anyone seeking to understand the financial crisis.

 

[ATeam]

I have to agree with Turtle.

I am not one to worry about things I cannot change - jeez, I'd be sick all the time!

You can't change the storm, but if you are paying attention you can see it coming and change your behavior so as to avoid getting hurt. On a sunny day, the beach is a nice place to be. But if a hurricane is coming, it is better to be someplace else.

 

[davekc]

Phil,
I think you are getting too hung up on trying to prove someone wrong. A "fact check" with dates and times isn't really warranted as he was just speaking figuratively.
Relax a little

 

[ATeam]

Not out to prove anyone wrong. Just making sure my views are not misrepresented. Thus the facts.

Look, there is no denying that these are worrisome times. The president and congress do not rise every day with dire warnings about economic health and $700 bailout packages to show they mean it. In fact, they have never done so in my lifetime. Sticking your head in the sand and ignoring these developments will serve you no better than worrying yourself to death about them.

The point is, new challenges to the global economy have risen. They are serious to the point that banks have stopped lending money to each other and massive government interventions by several countries are having limited effect.

But even with all this, expedited freight has not stopped moving. Fuel can still be purchased (at lower prices these days ). Vendors remain available to service our trucks. Food can still be found on grocery store shelves. Paychecks still clear the banks.

Expediters who were in good financial shape before Memorial Day, 2008 will likely still be in good financial shape after Memorial Day, 2009. Solvent expediters have a special advantage in their mobility. Unlike people who are dependent on a factory or business in a particular location for their job, expediters can drive their trucks to places where work can be found.

I know some from Michigan that have little hope of profitably selling their houses that have declined in value. But they can live with that for two reasons: (1) it is their home and they don't particularly want to sell their houses, and (2) they don't have to rely on the Michigan economy to provide jobs. Instead, they get in their truck, hit the road and drive on.

No, it's not all gloom and doom out there. Opportunities remain. But expediting is not as easy as it was in the good-old-days either. People researching the industry should be careful to note that a great many of the posts here in the Open Forum were written when general economic conditions were more positive than they are now.

Opportunities remain. Carriers are still adding trucks and taking new drivers on. As always, look before you leap. And in these times, it is wise to look twice.

 

[Turtle]

A fact check is in order. Your profile says you have been on this site since April, 2006. I first started talking about a recession on August 16, 2007. See: A Question For Expediting Veterans About Recession

Like Dave said, it was to make a point. I can be just as pedantic as anyone at times, but in this case, 'who said what, and when did they say it' isn't the point.

In any case, April 2006 was when I registered for the forums, but it's not necessarily when I first started reading the site. I was reading the site long before I got into expediting, and I've been expediting a lot longer than April of '06.. But, I do seem to recall, and if you insist I'll go and find it, where you talked about something along the lines of you and Diane being uber prepared for any and all things that might come your way, you laid out a plan, a good one, including a monthly budget, etc., cash reserves to hold you over in bad economic times and being prepared for economic downturns and, yes, a recession that would surely come. But again, that's not the point.

"There are other decisions; like whether or not to buy a truck, new or used, how to spec it, etc. Financing decisions are made. Carrier choice decisions are made. The list goes on."

True, but generally speaking, all of those are tied to whether or not your revenue is such that it allows you to remain in business. It's all about the loads and about the revenue. Everything stems from that. Everything.

"General economic conditions affect these decisions people make and the actions they take. For example, if interest rates are high, a truck may not be affordable. If credit is tight, a truck may not be obtainable without a very large down payment. If truck sales are slow, a truck may be easier to obtain."

Yes, and it all still hinges on revenue, and do you have enough of it to remain in this business.

"Had today's news been the news when Diane and I entered the expediting industry, we would not have entered it."

Of that I have no doubt.

Clearly, you come from a financial background, or have a keen interest in all things economic, and there's nothing wrong with that. I would point out that, like any thing else from another industry or vocation, you are limited on how you can apply it to expediting. People with 20, 30 years of successful business experience come into expediting and are shocked at how little of their experience they can apply here. You can't even apply basic trucking economics to expediting, much less most of the macro economics to be found in the year end reports of the WSJ.

All I'm trying to suggest to you is calm down, take a pill, or some Mylanta, quit worrying about something that you really and truly cannot control, especially when it's not likely to have much of an effect on you and your business. Sure, be aware of it, make plans, take steps to protect yourself, but worrying about it and making yourself sick over it won't change a thing.

 

[ATeam]

I do seem to recall, and if you insist I'll go and find it, where you talked about something along the lines of you and Diane being uber prepared for any and all things that might come your way, you laid out a plan, a good one, including a monthly budget, etc., cash reserves to hold you over in bad economic times and being prepared for economic downturns and, yes, a recession that would surely come. But again, that's not the point.

No need to go find old posts. Your recollection is correct. We had a good plan when we entered the business and believe we still do. While the plan anticipated recessions, it did not anticipate the instant restructuring of Wall Street, credit freezing up between banks and massive (MASSIVE) deficit spending by the governemnt. So far, we are hauling freight pretty much as we have done before. And if things get tight, we are fully prepared to ride things out according to plan.

"There are other decisions; like whether or not to buy a truck, new or used, how to spec it, etc. Financing decisions are made. Carrier choice decisions are made. The list goes on."

True, but generally speaking, all of those are tied to whether or not your revenue is such that it allows you to remain in business. It's all about the loads and about the revenue. Everything stems from that. Everything.

Agreed. I have said before that even if you are in expediting for the camping trip, it's about the money. Unless you are independently wealthy funding your truck from non-expedting sources, expediting has to be about the money. There is no other way to keep a truck running.

"General economic conditions affect these decisions people make and the actions they take. For example, if interest rates are high, a truck may not be affordable. If credit is tight, a truck may not be obtainable without a very large down payment. If truck sales are slow, a truck may be easier to obtain."

Yes, and it all still hinges on revenue, and do you have enough of it to remain in this business.

Again, we agree.

"Had today's news been the news when Diane and I entered the expediting industry, we would not have entered it."

Of that I have no doubt.

Clearly, you come from a financial background, or have a keen interest in all things economic, and there's nothing wrong with that. I would point out that, like any thing else from another industry or vocation, you are limited on how you can apply it to expediting. People with 20, 30 years of successful business experience come into expediting and are shocked at how little of their experience they can apply here. You can't even apply basic trucking economics to expediting, much less most of the macro economics to be found in the year end reports of the WSJ.

All I'm trying to suggest to you is calm down, take a pill, or some Mylanta, quit worrying about something that you really and truly cannot control, especially when it's not likely to have much of an effect on you and your business. Sure, be aware of it, make plans, take steps to protect yourself, but worrying about it and making yourself sick over it won't change a thing.

You are correct. I do have a financial background. For 11 years I worked as a securities broker and financial planner. That experience has been a blessing for us as expediters, especially when it comes to writing a business plan.

But it could also be a curse of sorts. Because of my interest in the securities markets and friends still in the industry, I am dialed in to the financial news of the day more than many. I do not envy my friends who must now face their clients and explain high-quality 401k (retirement money) investment portfolios that are significantly lower.

I was once fiercely politically active. What got me into that was deep concerns about federal deficit spending and the long-term financial health of our country. I was one of millions that rose up at that time and the government responded with a balanced budget. But now, fiscal responsibility in government has been blown out of the water beyond any level I ever thought possible. That troubles me too.

So, yes, I am bringing my concerns from other endeavors into my present outlook, now formed behind the wheel. While doing so does not paint the world as all sweetness and light, it has helped us preserve our capital and enter challenging economic times with strength. That strength will help us drive through these times even if revenues decline.

The emotions I feel in all of this are not for us. Diane and I expect to do fine. My worry is for others; good people I know in the securities industry that are doing their best to be there for their clients, non-expediting truck drivers I meet that feel trapped in their trucks or are failing, and people who have non-truck driving jobs. They are struggling under excessive debt, declining home values and fear for their employment.

We have never expected to receive social security support from the governemnt when we reach retirement age, and have planned accordingly. But I worry about the people who are not only expecting it but have to have it to survive. What does a $700 billion dollar bailout of the banks and investment firms mean for them? Nothing good, I fear. And I am more worried about the financial health of our country than I have ever been.

I am sorry if my worries have been more of a downer for expediters than some want to hear. As Turtle correctly points out, I am bringing a point of view into the industry that is colored by previous endeavors and feelings for others beyond myself.

While I am worried by a number of developments and worried about the future of our country, I am not worried about Diane's and my ability to succeed as expediters in good times or bad.

 

[dabluzman1]

Turtle quote:
"I would point out that, like any thing else from another industry or vocation, you are limited on how you can apply it to expediting. People with 20, 30 years of successful business experience come into expediting and are shocked at how little of their experience they can apply here. You can't even apply basic trucking economics to expediting, much less most of the macro economics to be found in the year end reports of the WSJ."
end of quote.


I would think a few of here would disagree with this statement.
Good business practices are just that, good business practices.
They are transferable from retail to manufacturing to distribution to the food industry to the music industry to to the expediting industry.

Expediting is not so unique that it requires a "special" set of circumstances to succeed.
Just like any of the above mentioned industries, the ability to understand your environment
and manipulate the variables that you can control will be monumental in success.

Failure to study the industry, its trends and cycles could lead to failure, particuarly in a tough financial market as today.

But in good times when its fat cat city, many will experience success, in spite of themselves.

Those that are better versed in good business practices will have a better chance to weather storms that appear.

it is a tentative time to start any new business venture, expediting being just one of many
choices to considered.

 

[Bruno]

Turtle quote:
"I would point out that, like any thing else from another industry or vocation, you are limited on how you can apply it to expediting. People with 20, 30 years of successful business experience come into expediting and are shocked at how little of their experience they can apply here. You can't even apply basic trucking economics to expediting, much less most of the macro economics to be found in the year end reports of the WSJ."
end of quote.


I would think a few of here would disagree with this statement.
Good business practices are just that, good business practices.
They are transferable from retail to manufacturing to distribution to the food industry to the music industry to to the expediting industry.

Expediting is not so unique that it requires a "special" set of circumstances to succeed.
Just like any of the above mentioned industries, the ability to understand your environment
and manipulate the variables that you can control will be monumental in success.

Failure to study the industry, its trends and cycles could lead to failure, particuarly in a tough financial market as today.

But in good times when its fat cat city, many will experience success, in spite of themselves.

Those that are better versed in good business practices will have a better chance to weather storms that appear.

it is a tentative time to start any new business venture, expediting being just one of many
choices to considered.

dabluzman1

I would have to agree with Turtle. I have seen many people that had very well paying jobs outside of this business try the expedite business only to fail. They go out buy a new truck and run 3 weeks out and take one week off each month which can set them up to fail. Even when I was a manager of a rent to own store I didn't take 12 weeks of a year. By people doing that they lose 25% of they income they CAN make each year.

I have only really seen a few people that did it the right way, DaveKC is one. Phil and his wife are the other ones. Phil and his wife did the smart thing and drove for and owner 1st to see if this was something they wanted to do before they went out and bought a $200,000.00 truck. Now I have never met Phil and we don't always see eye to eye EO. But I will say this about Phil and his wife they did it the smart way. As for me I did it the wrong way when I 1st started back in 1995 and almost lost my 1st truck because It's a whole different world out here. Thanks to guys like Roger and Bill Hunt who had been on with Roberts Express as owners of their own trucks for 10 years and helped me with what I was doing wrong. Like not running team, what express center to stay in and many other things.

Some people don't plan to fail, they fail to plan.

 

[Turtle]

Good business practices are just that, good business practices.
They are transferable from retail to manufacturing to distribution to the food industry to the music industry to to the expediting industry.

True. But good business practices and business experience aren't necessarily the same thing. Good, basic business practices apply pretty much across the board to all businesses, including expediting, but there are many industries from which the experiences do not translate very well. You do this, and that happens, and if you do that, then this happens, but when you do this and that in expediting, it don't happen.

Being both a former musician and a manager of restaurants, I can tell you that there is far more that I can bring to expediting from being a musician than I can from being a restaurant manager, even though all three are still based on the same basic business practices.

Expediting is not all that unlike that of a musician, where you have to perform, and perform well, on little or no notice, and as soon as one job is done you aren't necessarily sure of where or when the next one will come. That's some experience you can use. Working for 30 years on an assembly line, not so much. Owning a retail store, not so much. Driving for Schneider, not so much.

Expediting is like fishing. But not commercial fishing where you cast a net and bring it all up and see what you've got (that's a fleet owner hehe). You go to what you hope is a good fishing hole, bait the hook and plop in the line, wait for the bobber to bob and the fish to take the bait. And you wait, and you wait, and you wait some more. When one strikes you go crazy and go all-out until you land it and put the fish in the bucket. Done. Then you do it all again, sometimes moving to a different fishing hole, hoping it's a better place.

Expediting is also like being a bird of prey (or a mugger, for that matter), being in the right place at the right time for when the opportunity presents itself, pouncing on it, devouring it, then looking for your next opportunity. The previous sentence could also be said of sales, something that I have also done, but oddly enough, there is almost nothing about sales that translates well into being an expediter. Go figure.


"Expediting is not so unique that it requires a "special" set of circumstances to succeed."

True, but expediting is far enough outside the box that it does require a little more out-of-the-box thinking than most other professions. Once you "get" it, expediting is pretty simple. But expediting is what it is, and too many people try to bring their own experiences from other industries and apply them to expediting, and that rarely works.

It's like the very experienced and quite logical notion of three weeks out and one week off, being that most people work a 5-day work week at 20-21 days a month, then weekends off at 8-9 days a month. Ergo, three weeks at 21 days and then 7 days off makes sense. Yeah, it does, but not in expediting. You need to get back outside the box and go with 21 loaded days, not merely 21 days, and even at that it depends on how well loaded those 21 days were, and then take 7 days off. For most, that's not gonna happen within a 30 day period. For most people, those 7 days off already happened. Whoops. If they go and take off yet another 7 days, the end up working far less than they realize. They think they were working on those days they were sitting, on every day they are not at home.

That's the kind of thinking that comes from most any other industry, and it's the kind of experience and thinking that cannot be applied to expediting. And it's that right there that does most people in.

 

[x06col]

Yepper Turtle, it's that trying to have a "life" as some put it, that does the magic to many folks.

Teaming is not the answer, totally. And, the "good" spots are not good everyday. And, the "bad" spots are not bad everyday. The notion that "you must make money on everything you touch" in business, will certainly cause some not to be able to cope. Cause, it jes can't happen on a endeavor such as this. Many can't put forth the effort to be a student of their avocation. They jes wait, an wait, for the handout. Steada, searching for their own meal.

It has happened for years. And, will continue for years. I jes smile when I read tings like this for the umpteenth time. It will never change.

 

[Bruno]

True. But good business practices and business experience aren't necessarily the same thing. Good, basic business practices apply pretty much across the board to all businesses, including expediting, but there are many industries from which the experiences do not translate very well. You do this, and that happens, and if you do that, then this happens, but when you do this and that in expediting, it don't happen.

Being both a former musician and a manager of restaurants, I can tell you that there is far more that I can bring to expediting from being a musician than I can from being a restaurant manager, even though all three are still based on the same basic business practices.

Expediting is not all that unlike that of a musician, where you have to perform, and perform well, on little or no notice, and as soon as one job is done you aren't necessarily sure of where or when the next one will come. That's some experience you can use. Working for 30 years on an assembly line, not so much. Owning a retail store, not so much. Driving for Schneider, not so much.

Expediting is like fishing. But not commercial fishing where you cast a net and bring it all up and see what you've got (that's a fleet owner hehe). You go to what you hope is a good fishing hole, bait the hook and plop in the line, wait for the bobber to bob and the fish to take the bait. And you wait, and you wait, and you wait some more. When one strikes you go crazy and go all-out until you land it and put the fish in the bucket. Done. Then you do it all again, sometimes moving to a different fishing hole, hoping it's a better place.

Expediting is also like being a bird of prey (or a mugger, for that matter), being in the right place at the right time for when the opportunity presents itself, pouncing on it, devouring it, then looking for your next opportunity. The previous sentence could also be said of sales, something that I have also done, but oddly enough, there is almost nothing about sales that translates well into being an expediter. Go figure.


"Expediting is not so unique that it requires a "special" set of circumstances to succeed."

True, but expediting is far enough outside the box that it does require a little more out-of-the-box thinking than most other professions. Once you "get" it, expediting is pretty simple. But expediting is what it is, and too many people try to bring their own experiences from other industries and apply them to expediting, and that rarely works.

It's like the very experienced and quite logical notion of three weeks out and one week off, being that most people work a 5-day work week at 20-21 days a month, then weekends off at 8-9 days a month. Ergo, three weeks at 21 days and then 7 days off makes sense. Yeah, it does, but not in expediting. You need to get back outside the box and go with 21 loaded days, not merely 21 days, and even at that it depends on how well loaded those 21 days were, and then take 7 days off. For most, that's not gonna happen within a 30 day period. For most people, those 7 days off already happened. Whoops. If they go and take off yet another 7 days, the end up working far less than they realize. They think they were working on those days they were sitting, on every day they are not at home.

That's the kind of thinking that comes from most any other industry, and it's the kind of experience and thinking that cannot be applied to expediting. And it's that right there that does most people in.

I couldn't have said any better but your right 100%